fantasy and science fiction book reviewsBiting Cold by Chloe NeillBiting Cold by Chloe Neill

Biting Cold (2012) is the sixth book in Chloe Neill’s CHICAGOLAND VAMPIRES series. It’s impossible to even give the premise of this book, let alone a useful review, without mentioning major spoilers for books four and five, Hard Bitten and Drink Deep respectively, so if you haven’t read those books, stop reading this review now!

Is the coast clear? OK, here goes. Ethan has just come back from the dead, but he and Merit hardly have a chance to catch up; they must immediately embark on a road trip to stop Mallory before she can reach the Maleficium spellbook and unleash the evil bound therein. But not everything goes according to plan during this trip, and soon they’re back in Chicago with a dangerous new supernatural enemy to face.

The character arc of Mallory is the most compelling aspect of Biting Cold. The showdown between her and Merit is actually resolved pretty quickly, and then she has to face the consequences of her recent actions. In terms of literal “punishment,” she gets off pretty lightly, but the damage she’s done to herself and to her relationships is going to be lasting. Neill does a great job with Mallory’s realization that there’s no easy fix for what she’s done, and the only way to get through it is just to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Chicagoland Vampires (Book Series) by Chloe NeillThe redemption arc of another character is less convincing. We’re given a supernatural explanation for why this character previously went bad, but the explanation doesn’t quite fit with the particular crimes the character committed. This character just seems completely different here than ever before, even when you factor out the other thing that was going on. The explanation feels tacked on after the fact rather than previously planned. “It made sense at the time” doesn’t make it make sense to the reader. That said, this thread of the plot is action-packed and does make a decent “monster of the week” episode.

The romantic subplot is also irksome. Neill throws another wrench into the Merit/Ethan relationship, and this time it doesn’t work as well as it did in the past. When Ethan broke up with Merit in Twice Bitten, it felt real, and it hurt like Everywoman’s real-life breakups, only with fangs. Here, it just seems like a plot device to stretch out the sexual tension longer. It lacks impact, especially now that he has died and come back to life. By the end, when Merit is musing about being officially in a relationship, the two of them have started reminding me of those annoying couples on Facebook who change their status back and forth between “Single” and “In a Relationship” every time they have a fight.

The final pages do give us a step forward in the vampire-politics plotline that has been building for a few books, and as I mentioned above, Mallory’s arc is compelling and there’s enough action in Biting Cold to keep you entertained. However, there are some character-consistency issues and too much unnecessary relationship drama, and the end result is that this book feels like a filler episode.

Published in 2012. Turned into a vampire against her will, twenty-eight-year-old Merit found her way into the dark circle of Chicago’s vampire underground, where she learned there was more to supernaturals than met the eye—and more supernaturals than the public ever imagined.And not all the secrets she learned were for sharing—among humans orinhumans. Now Merit is on the hunt, charging across the stark American Midwest, tailing a rogue supernatural intent on stealing an ancient artifact that could unleash catastrophic evil on the world. But Merit is also the prey. An enemy of Chicagoland is hunting her, and he’ll stop at nothing to get the book for himself. No mercy allowed.

No rules apply. No lives spared. The race is on.

Author

  • Kelly Lasiter

    KELLY LASITER, with us since July 2008, is a mild-mannered academic administrative assistant by day, but at night she rules over a private empire of tottering bookshelves. Kelly is most fond of fantasy set in a historical setting (a la Jo Graham) or in a setting that echoes a real historical period (a la George RR Martin and Jacqueline Carey). She also enjoys urban fantasy and its close cousin, paranormal romance, though she believes these subgenres’ recent burst in popularity has resulted in an excess of dreck. She is a sucker for pretty prose (she majored in English, after all) and mythological themes.

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